You may submit your Research Qualifier components via the individual webfrom links below.

You may also download the Research Qualifier in single-page PDF sheets:

Research Qualifier Committee: To oversee this process, the student forms a Research Qualifier Committee consisting of three faculty members and one Robotics Ph.D. student who has completed his or her second year of study. One faculty committee member must hold a primary appointment in Robotics. The faculty members should include the student's advisor, one faculty member from the student's research area, and one faculty member from outside the area. Typically, the student's advisor will be the chairperson of the committee.

The total time required for a student to accomplish the research qualifier is expected to be approximately 50% effort for two years. Any student who does not complete the entire Research Qualifier by the end of the third year of study will no longer be in good standing in the Program, subject to the judgement of the faculty.

Research Skills: The ability to create, explore, refine, and test new ideas in robotics. Students are expected to demonstrate awareness of previous work in their area of research, depth of insight into the problem, creativity in approaching the problem, and substance of results obtained.

Speaking: The ability to communicate in oral presentation. Students are expected to demonstrate the ability to present technical material to a technical audience clearly and succinctly. The presentation must be made at a venue open to the public. Ideally, the Research Qualifying Committee will be in attendance, but committee members may designate proxies to evaluate the presentation.

Writing: The ability to communicate in technical writing. A student is expected to produce a conference-length, or longer, paper, in which he/she is the sole, or the primary, author plus a one page executive summary in which he/she is the sole author. The paper should demonstrate a style, organization and clarity that enables researchers in the field to comprehend the problem, method, and results of the research being written about. Students who have written papers prior to entering the Robotics Program may submit them for evaluation, provided they meet the above criteria.

Teaching: The experience of teaching in a classroom environment. This includes demonstration of as many as possible of the following: lecturing, recitation instruction, homework and exam design, grading, office hours, curriculum design. Each student must serve as a teaching assistant (TA) in one course relevant to the Robotics Program. Allowable courses will be defined by the Chair of the Program. Students may arrange to serve as TA by contacting the Program Coordinator at the beginning of the semester before the semester in which the student will act as a TA. The student is not required to spend more than twenty hours, but is not prohibited from doing so. The instructor should provide feedback to the student concerning the quality of the student's teaching. The instructor should report to the Program Coordinator his or her evaluation of whether the student has carried out the TA activities successfully.